January Reads

I've decided to stick to last year's goal of two books a month and hope to update each month on the blog. I've run into the the very first world problem of what to do with all our books. It would be lovely if I had an unlimited gift card to B&N and an entire wall of built in shelves but until then I'm checking out from the library and hoping to store good quotes and favorite reads here. I think this will work much better than my current method of stacking books in piles along my closet wall like a hermitted english professor. 

Sparkly Green Earrings
by Melanie Shankle
I don't read The Big Mama Blog but this book came highly recommended by several friends. I finished it in a few days. Honestly, I feel like I could have written this book. That is how closely parallelled I felt my life was to the author's--from her career in pharmaceuticals for the "flexible schedule" to the wacky home improvements to the one daughter family. I loved it and found it so funny and relateable. Luckily, she came out with a new one last month. 

The Duck Commander Family
by Willie Robertson
Anyone that knows me at all, knows how much I love to hear other's story. I'm fascinated by how people got where they are, what makes them tick, what drives them, etc. This family is pretty eccentric and has been in the midst of lots of controversy lately, but what I thought was going to be a cheesy was actually really sweet. It's obviously not written beautifully but the story of the Robertson boys growing up is fascinating and I can't not love a family that puts Jesus first and then their family second. I took away a few tidbits and enjoyed it overall.

The Fault in Our Stars
by John Green
I read this in about two nights while Bert was out of town this month after almost every 2013 reading list recommended it. Love, love, loved it! It was different and beautiful and the characters were so lovable. Though sad, it didn't leave you feeling weighted. The movie comes out this year which I doubt will do it justice so be sure to read it before then. I'm planning on going down the John Green list and have already picked up Looking for Alaska. I hope he isn't a one hot wonder because I would love another author to follow.

Love and Respect
by Emerson Eggerichs
This book came highly recommended by several people so our Bible study chose to read it this season. Meh. If you have never explored your husband's need for respect, then you might find it interesting but I have read other in depth studies on respect in relationships that I liked better. It brought up good discussion but I hard a hard time focusing on the actual writing and felt like the author used a lot of verbage for what could be a quick point.

I am Loving...

There are a few things I am not loving so much right now--this rainy weather, Bert's 14 hour work days, having to give Gillie back this weekend, spending 3 hrs at the vet finding out Bridget has a torn ACL, and that Loulie has gone to bed every night for two weeks at 11 and then woken up at least once in the middle of the night. How is it that I haven't had a newborn in 4 years and yet my sob story is always "I never get sleep." In lieu of my brief complaining (thanks for letting me get that off my chest), my "Love List" far outweighs any negative I might have going on.

Right now, I am loving..

- That we can finally announce that my sister is having a baby!!!!!!!!!!! Not due until Jan 9th so this might be the longest pregnancy ever. Loulie asks me everyday when Aunt Meme's baby is going to get here. Seriously, everyday! I cannot wait to hold that sweet little baby. I am not so secretly hoping for a boy since our family has never had one but obviously, I love girls and really just hope the baby is a big, healthy ball of squish. I'm pretty sure that being an aunt is going to be the greatest thing ever--I get all the benefits of loving on a sweet baby without raging hormones, sleepless nights or saving for college.

- The Office reruns on Netflix. How in the world did I go the past 8 years without getting into this show? Have I really been watching Grey's Anatomy instead of Steve Carrell every Thursday night? A friend posted some comment about the series finale on Facebook and I decided to check out the old shows (there is nothing on in the summer anyway). Obsessed! Jim and Pam are now in my top five favorite couples. Love the dry humor, the sexual innuendos, the random cast, LOVE IT!

- That tomorrow I am leaving for a week with Loulie to go on our annual Southern Tour (SC to Newnan to Atlanta to Knoxville to Charleston). I'm a little nervous about the long hours in the car alone with Loulie but I cannot wait to see my friends and their families and my parents. 

- The 9 day deep cleanse I just finished! I tried it at the suggestion of a friend after feeling sluggish and puffy all month. Amazing results--soooo much more energy, lost lbs and inches, and my skin is clearer. Definitely explaining in more detail in another post. I would recommend to anyone.

- A new favorite author, Rainbow Rowell. I just picked up her recent book from the library. It is like a John Hughes movie to the Nth. Seriously, the cutest misfit love story set in the 80s. You will love it from page one. The good news is she already has another book coming out with just as endearing characters and apparently as unique a plot. I love finding new authors--it's always nice to have a few favorites that you know you will enjoy their book when you pick it up. 

- That I won the $25 Trader Joe's gift card for bringing my own bag this week. I was beginning to think they never pick a winner. I enter every week and have never won. $25 at TJ's will be spent before I can even get past the flower section but there are few places where I would rather have free $!

- That 105 Charleston high schoolers left for Young Life camp this week. It's the first time in years that the number has been this high. We have been asked to pray for a specific few and I would love for anyone to join me in that. I cannot wait to see where God will move this week and how he will work in their lives when they return. We really feel like James Island is home and have started to try to dig more into the community. Of all the things we try to involve our family in, this mission gives me the most hope. That lost high school kids have an opportunity to hear about Jesus because some college kids have decided to commit their time to hanging out with them--it's just awesome! And I am so blessed to get to play some very small part in it.

So, that's it for now. I have a lot of packing left!

Happy Fourth Week!

Summer Reads (June/July/August)

I have had this post sitting in my feed waiting to be published for three months now. Can we say lazy?! I pretty much kept up with my new years resolution but have slowed down some this fall with my three books per month goal. This summer gave me some must reads. Behind the Beautiful Forevers will change your life or at least your outlook on your place in the world. And Jeannette Walls second book did not disappoint either!


Bringing Up Girls
by James Dobson
Finished in June

If you have a daughter, this is possibly the scariest book you will ever read. Dobson of "Focus On the Family" obviously writes from a Christian perspective but really everyone could benefit from his research and point of view. It took him twice as long to write as Bringing up Boys with hundreds more pages of research. He discusses everything from Disney's billion dollar princess industry to protecting our daughters on the internet to discussing promiscuity. I found it fascinating as well as applicable. Don't expect to finish overnight. This is one I highlighted and dog eared to death in hope to go back to my notes again and again.

The House I Loved
by Tatiana de Rosnay
Finished the first week of July

Historical fiction is my absolute favorite genre and I'm drawn to books having to do with French culture so this has been on my reading list for a few months. This was a simple and sweet story. I didn't know much about Napoleon's vision for a new Paris so I liked hearing about a time before the city was the romantic capital we think of today.  I think the reason I am drawn to historical fiction is because it often reveals how the same problems/situations/arguments/norms span across time. They may vary but an underlying similarity is always there. You could easily compare the main character's fear of moving forward, of change, of a new city, of new ideals to the same fears that we are facing in America today, especially during an election year. I related to the character's desire to hold on to the past, her desire to fight big government and her love for what she hoped was her staked out territory in a big and changing city. Not a must read, but definitely worth picking up if you enjoy any of the topics mentioned.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers
by Katherine Boo
Finished at the end of July

I could write about five posts on this book alone! I picked it up at the library because after reading so much fiction set in India or around the Indian culture (Jhumpa Lahiri is one of my favs), I thought it would be interesting to really delve into some non-fiction. It was a long one so I almost returned it after one chapter and reaching my due date. I can tell you that finishing it was well worth the eight dollars in late fees. Written by an American who married an Indian man, moved to India and fell in love with its culture; Boo submerges herself in the slum life of Mumbai's under city. She tells the tale of several real life characters while throwing at you questions of morality, human suffering, economic growth, and how EVERYONE is affected by the global market. It was enlightening, haunting, fascinating and something I still cannot quit thinking about. I think everyone should read this just to have the experience of living beyond their front door. Go out, read it and call me--I would love to do a book club on this one. I loved it!



Half Broke Horses
by Jeannette Walls
Listened to on cd mid August

If you read The Glass Castle, the this should be on top of your reading list. After being constantly stopped in the street, at book readings, and being emailed all the time about her less than normal mother; Walls set out to write a book explaining her mother's life. The more she and her mother talked however, it became clear that her mother's story could not be separated from her grandmother's. After some coaxing from her mother, Walls decided to write a book based on the life of her grandmother.

Where We Belong
by Emily Giffin
Finished the very first of August

I have loved Emily Giffin since she first introduced us to Darcy and Rachel in Something Borrowed (don't see the movie, get the book). She never disappoints and I have been excited about this book since April and just waiting for it to hit the shelf on July 31st.  Called the modern day Jane Austen, she truly writes how a woman wants to read. Though her stories are everyday concerns or issues women may deal with, she has such a fresh point of view and somehow always makes it a page turner. I finished the book in a day. Not thought provoking but a perfect summer read, one I might pick up again. I love it when a book creates a place you might want to go back to. And not to give anything away--it covers one of my favorite topics.

The Mermaid Chair
by Sue Monk Kidd
Finished last week of August

I thought this book was more recent than early millenium and for some reason the the tone seemed older than that. I listened to this on book cd while painting the upstairs for two days so I wasn't able to completely delve into it. Good book, good plot, not a life changer. I would suggest as a beach read but not in a Dorothy Benton Frank kind of way--much better than that. 

Checking Myself

I needed this today and you may too.

Yesterday I begrudgingly cut the grass, scrubbed bathrooms, changed bed linens, disciplined a sass mouthed child; all with a self-serving, "is this all there is?" attitude. I knew I was going about it surrounded in negativity and for some reason didn't really do much to change anything. Before I let it carry over into the rest of my week, I went to bed early last night and then read this from Ann Voskamp first thing this morning. I'm sorry if I've posted it before but I go back to these words often. They are such a good reminder. 

"This life of washing dishes, of domestic routine, it can be something wholly different. This life of rote work, it is itself public work, a public serving-even this scrubbing of pans-and thus, if done unto God, the mundane work can become the living liturgy of the Last Supper, I could become the blessing, live the liturgy! I rinse pots and sing it softly, "This is my song of thanks to You..."
      In the moment of singing that one line, dedicating the work as thanks to Him, something-the miracle-happens, and everytime. When service is unto people, the bones can grow weary, the frustration deep. Because, agrees Dorothy Sayers, "whenever man is made the centre of things, he becomes the storm-centre of trouble. The moment you think of serving people, you begin to have a notion that other people owe you something for your pains...You will begin to bargain for reward, to angle for applause,"
      When the laundry is for the dozen arms of children or the dozen legs, it's true, I think I'm due some apprecitation. So comes a storm of trouble and lightning strikes joy. But when Christ is at the center, when dishes, laundry, work, is my song of thanks to Him, joy rains. Passionately serving Christ alone makes us the loving servant to all. When the eyes of the heart focus on God, and the hands on always washing the feet of Jesus alone-the bones, they sing joy, and the work returns to its purest state: eucharisteo. The work becomes worship, a liturgy of thankfulness.
     "The work we do is only our love for Jesus in action," write Mother Teresa. "If we pray the work...if we do it to Jesus, if we do it for Jesus, if we do it with Jesus...that's what makes us content."
     That is what makes us content-the contented, deep joy is always in the touching of Christ-in whatever skin He comes to us in."
      From One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, p. 194

Sometimes it is just better to use the words of others greater than yourself. I think I am now ready to start this day.


   

February Books

So I kept up in February my resolution to read 3 books a month. I began to doubt myself halfway through knowing it was a shorter month and the energy that comes from January resolutions has waned a little. In addition to the three below, we are studying Hebrews in small group. HOW have I gone 31 years without reading this entire chapter of the Bible?! It is gorgeous--the prose, the imagery, the content. And I kind of love how we don't really know who wrote it. Between all that and Jesus Calling, I wore my highlighter out last month.


In Our Time
by Ernest Hemingway
Even though I just said I wore my highlighter out, it was not on this book. After reading The Paris Wife in January, I felt kind of ignorant that I had never read any Hemingway. And I feel a little stupid saying this because he is renowned as a literary genius all over the world, BUT I was so disappointed. I felt the same way reading this as I did when I first read Faulkner in high school. Completely uninspired. He was a depressed person and had just come from war and the story completely personifies "that time," it just wasn't the type of book I like to read. Throughout Paris Wife, he talks about how he wants to write one great sentence a day. I think he wrote a lot of great sentences but just maybe not a great story? I'm not going to completely give up though--I would still like to read A Moveable Feast.




















Hoda
by Hoda Kotb
I found this at my mother's house last year, read one chapter and retired it to the guest room bookshelf. I'm not sure why I picked it up again but I'm glad I did. I feel like so many celebrities publish their story and sometimes when they are like 30. And I'm all "who cares?" but Hoda's story is really inspiring. I had no idea how much she has been through--all the places she worked, how she grew up, etc. And in addition to seeming so kind on the Today Show, she has lead a pretty cool life. She also gives some details on everyone at the Today Show; and as someone who thinks Ann Curry would be her best friend if we ever met, I loved that chapter. I would completely recommend this one--quick read, good advice and just a neat story.



What Difference Do It Make
by Ron Hall, Denver Moore and Lynn Vincent
This sequel to Same Kind of Different As Me shares more of Denver and Ron's story as well as stories of those affected by their first novel. It is everything I love in a book--true events, stories of grace and lovable characters. Denver has so many wise reminders on how to live--things we should have learned but just loose in the shuffle of everyday living. I finished it in a few days and would 100% recommend.

January Book Review

One of my resolutions this year is to read more and keep track of what I read. I actually read a lot last year but wish I had written down my thoughts to look back on. I read EVERYTHING (yes, even US Weekly) with a pen in hand so I have a lot of notes in each book. But what is enjoying something if you don't share it with others. So since the written word is one of life's greatest pleasures, here are this month's reviews:






Life of the Beloved
by Henri Nouwen

This was my first book of the new year. Several friends have mentioned that I would love his work and I found this book sticking out of a bookshelf at B&N as I was chasing Loulie down the aisle. It caught my eye and about 72 hrs later, I was hooked to Nouwen. Though a short book, it takes a little longer to get through than you would think because of the depth of his writing. This book is written as a letter to one of his secular friends to explain living a spiritual life. I cannot express enough how beautiful this book is. I have whole pages highlighted and have already gone back to reread sections to friends. I particularly loved his connection between suffering and joy--though I have heard that message over and over again, no one has covered it more eloquently than Nouwen.  Christian, non-Christian, man or woman--this is a must read!





Sundays at Tiffany's
by James Patterson

I listened to this book tape on my way to Knoxville. (Is that cheating?) It's entertaining and quite sweet but not a realistic story that will stir any kind of thought or passion in you. I would recommend it for a beach read--the kind that you can just numb out and enjoy for exactly what it is--a fun story.

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

I felt like it took a while to get through this book because it covers such a difficult story. Embarrassing to admit, I have never read anything by Hemingway but after seeing Midnight in Paris, I was excited to read this novel on his first wife. We all know like many great artists, Hemingway was nuts but this story really gets into the day in and out of their marriage and his work. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres but I always want more details on what actually happened. Did she really say that? Is that exactly the name of the restaurant? etc. So I enjoyed this book but it did not draw me in emotionally like I thought it would. I did enjoy learning more about Paris during that time period and seeing what it was like for the elite. (Crazy how they could just leave their kids at home and travel all over Europe doing these exotic adventures.) Definitely not my favorite book (already resold on ebay) but eye opening so worth the read.

Bookworm

I am back to the land of the living after finishing the Hunger Games trilogy last Tuesday. Two posts ago, I had just started the third book. 1200 pages in 5 days--let's just say the laundry, the house and the filthy car waited. The last book was somewhat of a disappointment only because I wanted more. I can mourn a good book and this one was no exception. I spent days afterwards thinking about it--the characters, the underlying meaning to the authors over arching storyline.
I liken it to the way I feel after a great wedding weekend. You know how when you're in a wedding it is all you do from Friday at noon until you wake up Sunday morning. You really get to know the bride's sister from out west, her precious niece, you dance with the groom's cool college roommate, you really click with her coworker. Basically you fall in love with all these cool people and have so much fun with them all weekend only to say good bye on Sunday thinking "Man, if only they lived close by, we could be really good friends." But they fly on back to Seattle or wherever and you hope that maybe the couple will have a blowout baby shower or 40th birthday party in a few years where you can hang out with their fun family and friends again.
That's usually how I feel at the end of a good book when the heroine is so likeable that you almost envy him/her or the setting is somewhere you have always wanted to live or visit. I have been this way forever, getting so wrapped up in a book. I'm sure those of you reading that don't read for pleasure think I am nuts. I know there are those out there that hate to read--a People magazine is as close as you get and that's just for the quick crossword. But for those of you who share my love affair with a good paperback, here are a few of my recent reads and past favorites...


obv, The Hunger Games Trilogy
while it appears at first to be a teen fantasy, Twilight esque addiction; these books have so much more to say about war, peace, hope and the human spirit.
            


Her Mother's Hope
Her Daughter's Dream
by Francine Rivers
This is another series that resulted in a lot of sleep loss for me this fall. I loved these books. Francine Rivers is one of my favorites and I had heard a lot of mixed reviews over these. I highly recommend them. It gave me a lot to think about as a mother but I loved the message of forgiveness that resonates throughout. I just finished The Atonement Child by Rivers--I would never recommend it because of the delicate subject matter but thought it was good and that she remained true to her style. My favorite however is Redeeming Love--again, up until 4:00 finishing this one a few years ago.

   

                            

A Prayer for Owen Meany

by John Irving

Quite possibly the best book you will ever read. It was made into a movie about 10 years ago that no where near lived up to the book.

Something Borrowed

Something Blue

by Emily Giffin

Perfect beach read! Also being made into a movie this year.

I cannot wait for the day I get to read this to the L Bug. You can't find a better heroine than Anne...

Just a few of my favs. Have any suggestions for me? I am always looking for a good one.